Hadid's Maths Gallery Takes Flight; Late Architect Was Inspired by Aircraft for New Museum Space

Article excerpt

NEW pictures were revealed today of Dame Zaha Hadid's new mathematics gallery at the Science Museum, as her long-term collaborator said it would be "an important part" of the late architect's legacy.

The building, which opens its doors on December 8, will include more than 100 objects from the museum's collection, including a 1929 Handley Page aircraft that inspired its overall design.

Patrik Schumacher, a long-time collaborator and business partner of Dame Zaha, who died in March aged 65, said: "Mathematics was part of Zaha Hadid's life from a young age and has always been the foundation of her architecture."

He added: "This gallery is an important part of Zaha's legacy in London and I am sure it will inspire visitors for many years to come."

Among the objects on show in the gallery will be a 17th-century Islamic astrolabe that uses ancient mathematical techniques to map the night sky, and an early exam-ple of the Enigma machine, which was used by the Nazis to send coded messages in the Second World War before mathematicians working for the Allies broke the codes. …